


A Trip to the Store

by M_The_Muse



Series: Gorillaz Child [2]
Category: Gorillaz
Genre: Child Reader, Cute, Grocery Shopping, Noodle is Best Mom, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-13 00:52:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11748690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M_The_Muse/pseuds/M_The_Muse
Summary: You go to the store with Noodle, people mistake you for her child, and it's decent.





	A Trip to the Store

**Author's Note:**

> Part two of the series! I hope to post more, but school is right around the corner so it'll be hard.

You were doing your best to make some cereal this morning by standing on a little stool to reach the counter. A frown spread on your face as mostly cereal dust fell into the bowl, but you were still going to eat it. Tossing the box into the trashcan across the room, you cheered at making it in before scouting for milk. There wasn’t any to be found in the fridge though. You sighed, closing the fridge and making your way to the table. 

It had been a couple days after you spent the night in Stu’s room. Murdoc was reading the paper beside you with a beer in hand. Why he couldn’t drink in his own room you didn’t know, but it was always fun to watch him get yelled at for offering or sometimes nearly force-feeding you alcohol. Stu was in the living room, and Russ was at the table with Murdoc and yourself. 

Noodle finally trudged down the stairs, yawning and stretching as she gave everyone a soft greeting. You crunched on dry cereal, wishing there was milk. Your thoughts were voiced by Noodle when she closed the fridge with a annoyed look.

“Guys!” She spoke up, pointing at the fridge, “ We aren’t only out of milk, booze, and eggs. We’re out of everything! How did we run out of condiments?”

“I give them to Murdoc when he asks for more drinks.” You piped up, “You’d understand if you saw his face when he accidentally chugs a bottle of mustard.”

“Lil’ bastard.” Murdoc griped, the newspaper making a loud noise as he straightened it out.

“Well, we need food. Is someone gonna-”

“No.” Murdoc and Stu interjected.

“Sorry baby, but I’ve got a project to work on.” Russel smiled in apology, standing from the table to walk off.

“I’ll go with you, ‘bout time I got out of this house!” You shouted, quickly dumping your cereal in the trash and running to the stairs at the prospect of going out.

“Alright, alright. Change clothes and meet me in the living room.” Noodle followed you up the stairs, though nowhere near your pace.

Once in your room, you tugged open your drawers to find some form of acceptable clothing. A yellow t-shirt and short overalls were quickly put on, some bright mismatched long socks came next, and a pair of well-worn converse placed over them. Most everything you owned was a hand-me-down, but the shoes they’d gotten specifically for you. You smiled at the various pins on the overall straps. Many of them were bands, a few aliens, but some were things you didn’t know much about. 

You nearly walked out, but a thought struck as you passed a piggy bank. Murdoc would pay you for doing dares, pranking others, running errands, and the rare occasion that you’d blackmail him with camcorder recordings of him confessing or doing ridiculous things during his drunken escapades. Though it was probably only the grocery store, you knew you could get yourself something with some of that. You never really went out, so this would be a good chance to use it. The tangle with the piggy bank was harder than expected, but you managed to fish out six dollars. 

Noodle was waiting for you, and chuckled when you jumped off that last step to meet her. A long list was in her hand, she seemed to be giving a quick double check for any missing needed items. The heart-shaped sunglasses on her head kept her hair back as she reread the list. Her crossed legs were covered with rolled up jeans, and a sheer grey blouse ghosted her figure with a form fitting sleeveless top underneath. 

“Don’ you fink tha’s a lil’ much for the grocery?” Stu asked beside her on the couch, “The outfit, ‘s wha’ I meant.”

“I look great, and I’ll wear what I want.” Noodle dismissed him with a wave of her hand, folding the list and sticking it into her pocket. “Now, that is an outfit! Look at this child, they take after you so much.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” You questioned, hands on your hips.

“Your socks are so bright, but they’re mismatched.” She explained, “Take after ‘D here when you do that.”

“Oh,” You smiled and pulled out your money, “I have some funds for something I’d like to get for myself at the store.”

“Alright. C’mon loser, we’re goin’ shopping!” Noodle ruffled your hair, “Just kiddin’ on the loser part, let’s go cutie.”

A loud clap of thunder shook you to the core. Noodle gave you a glance, and walked with you to the door. She grabbed an umbrella from the hatstand they’d gotten when Stu took it on a date. Upon opening the door to a downpour, she smiled and took your hand to keep you close. 

“Don’t you dare forget booze!” Murdoc shouted, “Can’t function without a drink around here!”

Noodle and yourself giggled and shut the door, stepping off the doormat. She was a strong lady, and occasionally lifted you off the ground as you wiggled your legs in the air.

“Well, at least it looks and smells nice when it rains.” Noodle sighed, slowing her pace down the wet sidewalk.

“You mean it looks icky, and smells like dirt?” You asked.

“It’s something you’ll learn to love and gain inspiration from as you grow.”

“I hope I can grow to be like you guys! Well, maybe not Murdoc. . .” You trailed off, “He worries me sometimes.”

“He worries a lot of people, but I’ve learned that he doesn’t want you to. Can’t spend your whole life worryin’ about someone who doesn’t want it.’

“Didn’t he raise you?” 

“He was a big part of making me who I am, but he’s made a lot of mistakes. I wouldn’t change a thing about him. Love that grumpy pickle of a man like he was my own father.” 

It was quiet for a little while. Noodle was in thought, or that’s what it seemed to you. Being pressed up against her shoulder with a tight grip still on her hand made you incredibly warm. The rain was enjoyable though, and you both had some fun jumping into puddles. Noodle knew how to play, and seemed to know exactly how to have fun.

“What’re you going to spend your money on, squirt?” She swung her arm with yours, making you laugh at the feeling of it in the process.

You hadn’t put much thought into it, but you knew you didn’t need much for yourself. Murdoc certainly didn’t need anything from you, at least you didn’t think he’d want it. Stu would reject it and insist you keep whatever you got. You finally came to Russel, and decided that he’d be the person you’d get something for. Even if he wasn’t the first person you’d talk to, when you did he was one of the only level-headed people you knew.

“I think I’ll get Russ-Russ somethin’!” You cheered, smiling up at Noodle.

“Ah, I see.” 

Once again, it went quiet. Though, this silence seemed to carry you both. Crossing the street and watching a rare frog hop across with you both. Noodle looked at you, and began chuckling though. 

“Wha? What is it?” You asked, looking down at yourself to be sure you weren’t dirty before staring up at her dark eyes.

“Just remembering back when I was young, Russel wanted to wear a dress while filming a short. He did end up wearing it so we could show his thoughts while he was talking.” Noodle laughed, “He danced and twirled so much. He even wore it the rest of the day, stating that he’d ‘never felt more free’, and ‘these shoes look great on me’.”

You took a moment to imagine this, then laughed hard. A serious person like Russel in a dress, dancing around and just having a good time was hilarious to you. It was almost unbelieveable, and you’d be sure to steal Murdoc’s laptop to see it later. It’d be much better than any of the other videos you’d seen on the open tabs and history of that laptop, but the old and sticky keys would make typing somewhat difficult.

Both turning a corner, you saw the grocery store sign. It was shining brightly to contrast the darker clouds. Noodle scooped you up, and sprinted to the entrance with you cackling in laughter the whole way. Now getting a little wet from the rain since Noodle closed the umbrella, you both felt a little soothed by the smell of wet concrete. The automatic door slid open, and the young woman made a dramatic pose.

“After you kiddo!” She smiled at you when you stepped in.

From the calm outdoors, and into the store was like a fish out of water scenario for you. The main problem was you not being well socialised. You were normally holed up in your room every time the band threw a party, so this many people was new to you. The fluorescent lights that buzzed softly were a bit funky to you, as was the smell of the store. Only one way to know what to do, and that was to travel this new universe.

Walking over to the metal contraption that you vaguely knew was a shopping cart, a warm hand slid over your own. Noodle smiled back down at you, her sunglasses only stopping a fraction of her dark hair falling into her face. You stood on your tiptoes and gave her slender waist a hug, face just high enough to barely meet her chest.

“You ready to shop?” She asked, tousling your hair and gently pushing you off to grab a cart. 

“Heck yea!” You chirped up at her. 

“Good, now hold the list.” The list was handed to you, its neat handwriting in a language you couldn’t understand. 

Noodle scanned the many isles, hunting down the ones that would provide what they needed. You walked around some before tugging on her sheer blouse. You had no idea what any of the things on the list said, and you wanted to know.

“What did you write on this?” 

“Oh, it’s in my native language. But it has everything a less than normal pseudo-family would need: milk, eggs, snacks, meat, and a lot more. But most importantly-” Noodle screwed up her face to mimic Murdoc’s sneer, “Don’t forget the booze!”

Both of you shared a laugh, loud enough to turn a couple heads. That made you self conscious, but Noodle just squeezed your hand to assure you that it was okay. A moment passed before you both giggled to each other again. You were careless on your feet and felt yourself bump into what you knew was another person. Noodle went silent as they turned around, your face flush with embarrassment and shock while you hurried behind her legs.

“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t see you there, little one.” An older woman stated, smiling at you before meeting Noodle’s gaze. “You have such an adorable child!”

“I hate to tell you this, but they aren’t mine.” Noodle ruffled your hair, “I’m just taking care of ‘em with the guys back home.”

“Ah, well I have to get back to shopping. It was nice meeting you two!” The older woman waved a small goodbye before walking away.

Noodle and yourself were a bit confused, exchanging a glance before beginning down the main aisle. In a mock soldier march, Noodle wiggled her eyebrows in a gesture to mimic her. You followed suit, nearly grabbing a pasta strainer and placing it like a helmet onto your head. A thin arm shot out to direct you to turn.

“Turn here private!” Noodle barked playfully, holding back a truly authoritative voice as not to draw attention.

“Aye-aye captain!” You made a phony salute, and lost your marching pattern to go down the dairy isle.

Picking up a brick of cheddar and a dozen eggs, you noticed a slender woman wearing sunglasses tapping Noodle on her shoulder. You huffed at the woman. She was going to probably make a similar comment to the other woman before her.

“What an adorable kid! You must be so proud.”

“Sorry, another woman already asked that. Let me reiterate.” Noodle crouched beside you and looked up at the woman, waving her arm between you and herself. “We are not related.”

“O-oh, okay then.” She stuttered, “Sorry, you both looked so alike to me.”

Watching the woman leave gave you an idea. When Noodle stood you tugged on her blouse. She turned to listen to you, and you began to speak loudly enough for the woman to hear.

“Hey mom.” You smirked, “Can I please get some candy?”

“Honey, no you can’t. With how spoilt you are because of all your dads I don’t think I’ll ever need to get you anything.” Noodle played along, a motherly tone overtaking her.

“Ew, don’t be gross Noodle!” You laughed, “If Murdoc was my dad, I think I’d be put up for adoption on the spot.”

“Tell me about it. Only reason I wasn’t was because I could play guitar.” Noodle began to laugh with you.

You giggled together down another aisle you noticed was bread. Your pseudo-mother looked you over, blinking at you a few times. A moment passed before she spoke again. She was placing a loaf of bread into the cart when she made the passing remark.

“Y’know, I have no idea why they think we’re related. I don’t think we look similar at all.” Noodle smiled. 

Turning around to see what was down the aisle, you saw something that made your eyes light up. It was a pair of pencils and set of erasers in the shape of a pair drumsticks and a drumset. In an impulsive rush to grab it as a gift for Russel, you ran over and snatched it off the shelf. Before you could toss it into the cart Noodle asked to take a look at what you picked.

“It’s cute, but Russ doesn’t use pencils very much.” She placed a hand on your small shoulder, “I’m sorry, but if it hasn’t gone to hell in the house we should have many pencils.”

“Darn, what am I going to get him now?” Your eyes filled with sorrow.

“Ay, keep lookin’ squirt. Food isn’t the only thing they sell here.” 

You became hopeful again, skipping beside Noodle down another aisle. This time a man decided to stop you both and comment about you being Noodle’s. You were close to telling him off, because this was the third damn time someone made this stupid comment. 

“Ah, yeah this kiddo is half me.” Noodle explained, tossing a wink in your direction. “I hope they don’t take after their father, blue hair is a target for bullies.”

“Grody.” You mumbled at her, rolling your eyes at the man. “He’s more than a decade older than you, don’t talk like that.”

The Asian woman strutted off without another word, leaving the man in confusion and a bit of shock. You spent a while collecting more things, and she even placed you in the shopping cart and sped around the market for a while. A plethora of jokes and terrible impressions of the guys bloomed from the alcohol aisle. You were about to check out before remembering you hadn’t gotten anything for Russel.

“Noodle.” You chirped from inside the cart, “Can you set me down? I haven’t gotten anythin’ for Russ!”

“Calm down champ, we have plenty of ti-” Noodle paused while looking at her phone, “It’s getting late, but we can look.”

“How long have we been here?”

“Well, I slept until noon, and it was around two when we left. It’s five o’clock now.” She lowered you from the cart, letting you stretch your legs.

“We spent almost three hours here?”

“Time flies when you’re having fun.” Noodle shrugged, and led you down a few aisles.

The clothing aisle was a bust, as was the toy one. You began to feel hopeless, until you were met with the arts and crafts aisle. A small box of coloured pencils and a canvas lit your eyes, and you snatched them up to present to Noodle.

“You gonna draw him something?”

“Yeah, I can’t draw but I’ll try my best!” You handed her the materials that she then dropped into the cart.

“I know it’ll be great.” She smiled and gave you a pat on your shoulder as you made your way to the checkout.

Putting the cart up and bags of groceries in your arms you happily made your way to the exit. It was raining again, so Noodle pulled out the umbrella and you began on the journey home. Both of you struggling a bit with the bags and the long walk home, but it wasn’t too difficult.

“Hey Noodle, we took a long time in that store.” You began to put a thought together, “What do you think the guys are up to?”

“No clue, probably trashing the house again. Though I’m hopeful they haven’t.” 

The silence snuck back into you both, and walked the rest of the way quietly. Getting to the door, you both hears muffled sounds of shattering glass and screaming. The conversation started apparently becoming heated as you pressed your ear to the door. 

“Get the fuck off me!” Murdoc’s raspy voice was followed by a crash.

“You’re the one tha’ asked me to grab the fing!” Stu’s screeching mixed with the familiar caws of Cortez.

“Botha y’all stop! This whole thing was because of the-”

Noodle flung open the door in mock dramatic effect. Time stood still in your mind for a few moments. It all sped up with Russel’s improvised flamethrower made with a lighter and hairspray lit the room, a raccoon screeching and scurrying around.

“Toilet!” Russel boomed, grasping the raccoon from the ground.

“What is goin’ on in here?” Noodle stomped into the room, snatching Cortez out of the air.

“Nothin’ much, nothin’ much.” Murdoc slurred, face contorting into his usual scowl. “Oi, get your ‘ands off Tez!”

“Are you drunk?” Noodle asked, squeezing Cortez enough to press an answer from Murdoc.

“Well, I wouldn’ say-” Murdoc was cut off from a shrill squawk from Cortez. “Okay! Yea, I’m a lil’ tipsy.”

“How? We didn’t even have booze in the house!” You marvelled at Murdoc, who produced a beer bottle from a loose stair as Cortez swooped onto his shoulder.

“Fuck y’all. Get your own groceries next time!” Noodle dropped her bags onto the table and turned on her heel to face everyone. “Kid, help patch up Stu! Murdoc, clean this mess up before I kick your ass! Russ, get that raccoon out, then you can help the kiddo with Stu.”

“Yes ma'am!” Everyone responded in unison, and began going about their respective tasks.


End file.
